UZIG USGS research: Advances through interdisciplinary interaction
J. R. Nimmo, Brian J. Andraski, M.-C. Rafael
2009, Vadose Zone Journal (8) 411-413
BBecause vadose zone research relates to diverse disciplines, applications, and modes of research, collaboration across traditional operational and topical divisions is especially likely to yield major advances in understanding. The Unsaturated Zone Interest Group (UZIG) is an informal organization sponsored by the USGS to encourage and support interdisciplinary collaboration in...
Linking hydraulic properties of fire-affected soils to infiltration and water repellency
J. A. Moody, D.A. Kinner, X. Ubeda
2009, Journal of Hydrology (379) 291-303
Heat from wildfires can produce a two-layer system composed of extremely dry soil covered by a layer of ash, which when subjected to rainfall, may produce extreme floods. To understand the soil physics controlling runoff for these initial conditions, we used a small, portable disk infiltrometer to measure two hydraulic...
Application of a multistate model to estimate culvert effects on movement of small fishes
J.R. Norman, M.M. Hagler, Mary C. Freeman, B. J. Freeman
2009, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (138) 826-838
While it is widely acknowledged that culverted road-stream crossings may impede fish passage, effects of culverts on movement of nongame and small-bodied fishes have not been extensively studied and studies generally have not accounted for spatial variation in capture probabilities. We estimated probabilities for upstream and downstream movement of small...
Introduction to special section on impacts of land use change on water resources
David A. Stonestrom, Bridget R. Scanlon, Lu Zhang
2009, Water Resources Research (45)
Changes in land use have potentially large impacts on water resources, yet quantifying these impacts remains among the more challenging problems in hydrology. Water, food, energy, and climate are linked through complex webs of direct and indirect effects and feedbacks. Land use is undergoing major changes due not only to...
An enriched stable-isotope approach to determine the gill-zinc binding properties of juvenile rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) during acute zinc exposures in hard and soft waters
A.S. Todd, S. Brinkman, R.E. Wolf, P. J. Lamothe, K. S. Smith, J. F. Ranville
2009, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (28) 1233-1243
The objective of the present study was to employ an enriched stable-isotope approach to characterize Zn uptake in the gills of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) during acute Zn exposures in hard water (???140 mg/L as CaCO 3) and soft water (???30 mg/L as CaCO3). Juvenile rainbow trout were acclimated to...
Carbon cycling under 300 years of land use change: importance of the secondary vegetation sink
Elena Shevliakova, Stephen W. Pacala, Sergey Malyshev, George C. Hurtt, P. C. D. Milly, John P. Caspersen, Lori T. Sentman, Justin P. Fisk, Christian Wirth, Cyril Crevoisier
2009, Global Biogeochemical Cycles (23)
We have developed a dynamic land model (LM3V) able to simulate ecosystem dynamics and exchanges of water, energy, and CO2 between land and atmosphere. LM3V is specifically designed to address the consequences of land use and land management changes including cropland and pasture dynamics, shifting cultivation, logging, fire, and resulting...
Water velocity and the nature of critical flow in large rapids on the Colorado River, Utah
Christopher S. Magirl, Jeffrey W. Gartner, Graeme M. Smart, Robert H. Webb
2009, Water Resources Research (45)
Rapids are an integral part of bedrock‐controlled rivers, influencing aquatic ecology, geomorphology, and recreational value. Flow measurements in rapids and high‐gradient rivers are uncommon because of technical difficulties associated with positioning and operating sufficiently robust instruments. In the current study, detailed velocity, water surface, and bathymetric data were collected within...
Hydrologic characterization of desert soils with varying degrees of pedogenesis: 2. Inverse modeling for eff ective properties
B.B. Mirus, K. S. Perkins, J. R. Nimmo, K. Singha
2009, Vadose Zone Journal (8) 496-509
To understand their relation to pedogenic development, soil hydraulic properties in the Mojave Desert were investi- gated for three deposit types: (i) recently deposited sediments in an active wash, (ii) a soil of early Holocene age, and (iii) a highly developed soil of late Pleistocene age. Eff ective parameter values...
Estimation of regional-scale groundwater flow properties in the Bengal Basin of India and Bangladesh
H.A. Michael, C.I. Voss
2009, Hydrogeology Journal (17) 1329-1346
Quantitative evaluation of management strategies for long-term supply of safe groundwater for drinking from the Bengal Basin aquifer (India and Bangladesh) requires estimation of the large-scale hydrogeologic properties that control flow. The Basin consists of a stratified, heterogeneous sequence of sediments with aquitards that may separate aquifers locally, but evidence...
NMR imaging of fluid exchange between macropores and matrix in eogenetic karst
L.J. Florea, K.J. Cunningham, S. Altobelli
2009, Ground Water (47) 382-390
Sequential time-step images acquired using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) show the displacement of deuterated water (D2O) by fresh water within two limestone samples characterized by a porous and permeable limestone matrix of peloids and ooids. These samples were selected because they have a macropore system representative of some parts of...
Hydrologic connectivity between landscapes and streams: Transferring reach‐ and plot‐scale understanding to the catchment scale
Kelsey G. Jencso, Brian L. McGlynn, Michael N. Gooseff, Steven M. Wondzell, Kenneth E. Bencala, Lucy A. Marshall
2009, Water Resources Research (45)
The relationship between catchment structure and runoff characteristics is poorly understood. In steep headwater catchments with shallow soils the accumulation of hillslope area (upslope accumulated area (UAA)) is a hypothesized first‐order control on the distribution of soil water and groundwater. Hillslope‐riparian water table connectivity represents the linkage between the dominant...
Mercury cycling in stream ecosystems. 1. Water column chemistry and transport
M. E. Brigham, D.A. Wentz, G. R. Aiken, D. P. Krabbenhoft
2009, Environmental Science & Technology (43) 2720-2725
We studied total mercury (THg) and methylmercury (MeHg) in eight streams, located in Oregon, Wisconsin, and Florida, that span large ranges in climate, landscape characteristics, atmospheric Hg deposition, and water chemistry. While atmospheric deposition was the source of Hg at each site, basin characteristics appeared to mediate...
Ground and surface temperature variability for remote sensing of soil moisture in a heterogeneous landscape
M.A. Giraldo, D. Bosch, M. Madden, L. Usery, M. Finn
2009, Journal of Hydrology (368) 214-223
At the Little River Watershed (LRW) heterogeneous landscape near Tifton Georgia US an in situ network of stations operated by the US Department of Agriculture-Agriculture Research Service-Southeast Watershed Research Lab (USDA-ARS-SEWRL) was established in 2003 for the long term study of climatic and soil biophysical processes. To develop an accurate...
Monitoring the removal of phosphate from ground water discharging through a pond-bottom permeable reactive barrier
T.D. McCobb, D.R. LeBlanc, A.J. Massey
2009, Ground Water Monitoring and Remediation (29) 43-55
Installation of a permeable reactive barrier to intercept a phosphate (PO4) plume where it discharges to a pond provided an opportunity to develop and test methods for monitoring the barrier’s performance in the shallow pond‐bottom sediments. The barrier is composed of zero‐valent‐iron mixed with the native sediments to a 0.6‐m...
Ecological effects of lead mining on Ozark streams: In-situ toxicity to woodland crayfish (Orconectes hylas)
A.L. Allert, J.F. Fairchild, R.J. DiStefano, C. J. Schmitt, W. G. Brumbaugh, J.M. Besser
2009, Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety (72) 1207-1219
The Viburnum Trend mining district in southeast Missouri, USA is one of the largest producers of lead-zinc ore in the world. Previous stream surveys found evidence of increased metal exposure and reduced population densities of crayfish immediately downstream of mining sites. We conducted an in-situ 28-d exposure to assess toxicity...
A simplified water temperature model for the Colorado River below Glen Canyon Dam
S.A. Wright, C.R. Anderson, N. Voichick
2009, River Research and Applications (25) 675-686
Glen Canyon Dam, located on the Colorado River in northern Arizona, has affected the physical, biological and cultural resources of the river downstream in Grand Canyon. One of the impacts to the downstream physical environment that has important implications for the aquatic ecosystem is the transformation of the thermal regime...
Provenance of Holocene sediment on the Chukchi-Alaskan margin based on combined diffuse spectral reflectance and quantitative X-Ray Diffraction analysis
J.D. Ortiz, L. Polyak, J.M. Grebmeier, D. Darby, D. D. Eberl, S. Naidu, D. Nof
2009, Global and Planetary Change (68) 73-84
Sediment clay and silt mineral assemblages provide an excellent means of assessing the provenance of fine-grained Arctic sediment especially when a unique mineral assemblage can be tied to specific source areas. The diffuse spectral reflectance (DSR) first derivative measurements and quantitative X-Ray Diffraction (qXRD) on a high-resolution sediment core from...
Obliquity-paced Pliocene West Antarctic ice sheet oscillations
T. Naish, R. Powell, R. Levy, G. Wilson, R. Scherer, F. Talarico, L. Krissek, F. Niessen, M. Pompilio, T. Wilson, L. Carter, R. DeConto, P. Huybers, R. McKay, D. Pollard, J. Ross, D. Winter, P. Barrett, G. Browne, R. Cody, E. Cowan, J. Crampton, G. Dunbar, N. Dunbar, F. Florindo, C. Gebhardt, I. Graham, M. Hannah, D. Hansaraj, D. Harwood, D. Helling, S. Henrys, L. Hinnov, G. Kuhn, P. Kyle, A. Laufer, P. Maffioli, D. Magens, K. Mandernack, W. McIntosh, C. Millan, R. Morin, C. Ohneiser, T. Paulsen, D. Persico, I. Raine, J. Reed, C. Riesselman, L. Sagnotti, D. Schmitt, C. Sjunneskog, P. Strong, M. Taviani, S. Vogel, T. Wilch, T. Williams
2009, Nature (458) 322-328
Thirty years after oxygen isotope records from microfossils deposited in ocean sediments confirmed the hypothesis that variations in the Earth's orbital geometry control the ice ages1, fundamental questions remain over the response of the Antarctic ice sheets to orbital cycles2. Furthermore, an understanding of the behaviour...
Web services in the U.S. geological survey streamstats web application
J. D. Guthrie, C. Dartiguenave, Kernell G. Ries III
2009, Conference Paper, Proceedings of the International Conference on Advanced Geographic Information Systems and Web Services, GEOWS 2009
StreamStats is a U.S. Geological Survey Web-based GIS application developed as a tool for waterresources planning and management, engineering design, and other applications. StreamStats' primary functionality allows users to obtain drainage-basin boundaries, basin characteristics, and streamflow statistics for gaged and ungaged sites. Recently, Web services have been developed that provide...
Streamflow changes in Alaska between the cool phase (1947–1976) and the warm phase (1977–2006) of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation: The influence of glaciers
Glenn A. Hodgkins
2009, Water Resources Research (45)
Streamflow data from 35 stations in and near Alaska were analyzed for changes between the cool phase (1947–1976) and the warm phase (1977–2006) of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation. Winter, spring, and summer flow changes and maximum annual flow changes were different for glaciated basins (more than 10% glacier‐covered area) than...
GRS evidence and the possibility of paleooceans on Mars
J. M. Dohm, V.R. Baker, W. V. Boynton, A.G. Fairen, J.C. Ferris, M. Finch, R. Furfaro, T.M. Hare, D.M. Janes, J.S. Kargel, S. Karunatillake, J. Keller, K. Kerry, K.J. Kim, G. Komatsu, W.C. Mahaney, D. Schulze-Makuch, L. Marinangeli, G.G. Ori, J. Ruiz, S.J. Wheelock
2009, Planetary and Space Science (57) 664-684
The Gamma Ray Spectrometer (Mars Odyssey spacecraft) has revealed elemental distributions of potassium (K), thorium (Th), and iron (Fe) on Mars that require fractionation of K (and possibly Th and Fe) consistent with aqueous activity. This includes weathering, evolution of soils, and transport, sorting, and deposition, as well as with...
Sea-level rise in New Jersey over the past 5000 years: Implications to anthropogenic changes
Kenneth G. Miller, Peter J. Sugarman, James V. Browning, Benjamin P. Horton, Alissa Stanley, Alicia Kahn, Jane Uptegrove, Michael Aucott
2009, Global and Planetary Change (66) 10-18
We present a mid to late Holocene sea-level record derived from drilling the New Jersey coast that shows a relatively constant rise of 1.8??mm/yr from ~ 5000 to 500 calibrated calendar years before present (yrBP). This contrasts with previous New Jersey estimates that showed only 0.5??mm/yr rise since 2000??yrBP. Comparison...
The stable carbon isotope biogeochemistry of acetate and other dissolved carbon species in deep subseafloor sediments at the northern Cascadia Margin
Verena B. Heuer, John W. Pohlman, Marta E. Torres, Marcus Elvert, Kai-Uwe Hinrichs
2009, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (73) 3323-3336
Ocean drilling has revealed the existence of vast microbial populations in the deep subseafloor, but to date little is known about their metabolic activities. To better understand the biogeochemical processes in the deep biosphere, we investigate the stable carbon isotope chemistry of acetate and other...
Characteristics of a refuge for native freshwater mussels (Bivalvia: Unionidae) in Lake St. Clair
D.J. McGoldrick, J. L. Metcalfe-Smith, M.T. Arts, D. W. Schloesser, T.J. Newton, G.L. Mackie, E.M. Monroe, J. Biberhofer, Kevin Johnson
2009, Journal of Great Lakes Research (35) 137-146
The Lake St. Clair delta (??? 100??km2) provides an important refuge for native freshwater mussels (Unionidae) wherein 22 of the ??? 35 historical species co-occur with invasive dreissenids. A total of 1875 live unionids representing 22 species were found during snorkeling surveys of 32 shallow (??? 1??m) sites throughout the...
Tree die-off in response to global change-type drought: Mortality insights from a decade of plant water potential measurements
D.D. Breshears, O.B. Myers, Clifton W. Meyer, F.J. Barnes, C.B. Zou, Craig D. Allen, N.G. McDowell, W. T. Pockman
2009, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment (7) 185-189
Global climate change is projected to produce warmer, longer, and more frequent droughts, referred to here as “global change-type droughts”, which have the potential to trigger widespread tree die-off. However, drought-induced tree mortality cannot be predicted with confidence, because long-term field observations of plant water stress prior to, and culminating...
